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1993-10-24
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PLANT v1.30
BMP, SCR, & WAV Swapping Utility for Windows
Copyright (c) 1993 Terry Matula
Released October 24, 1993
Description
===========
PLANT is a DOS application that will swap wallpaper, screen saver, and/or
Windows system sounds. All BMPs, SCRs, and WAVs are stored in compressed
archives (PKZip format). PLANT selects new files directly from the ar-
chives, decompresses them, gives them a standard name, and places them in
your Windows subdirectory.
The name PLANT comes from the nature of the swapping. PLANT, as a verb,
can mean 'To place for the purpose of deception.' This is exactly the na-
ture of the swapping done by this program. For example, Windows could be
set to always use the wallpaper file 'wpaper.bmp'. PLANT could then be
used to change 'wpaper.bmp' from image to image. This swapping is com-
pletely invisible to Windows.
As you may know, there are several other very similar programs that basi-
cally do the same thing. I looked at many of them, but did not find one
that operated exactly the way I wanted it to. So, I wrote my own. Listed
below are some of the things that I think make PLANT unique.
1. It will operate in DOS or Windows.
2. It doesn't mess with Windows' *.ini files.
3. It can swap screen savers.
4. It stores unused BMPs, SCRs, and WAVs in compressed archives.
5. It uses PKZIP, a proven fast and reliable compression utility.
6. It is easily setup with a simple configuration file.
7. It supports sequential and random swapping.
8. It is a small and efficient executable.
9. It is FREEWARE.
Although PLANT is a relatively simple little program that I'm sure any
halfway decent programmer could write, I would like to publicly thank my
lone beta-tester, Dewayne McNair. It's always helpful to have someone not
involved in the program writing to do the testing. Thanks, Dewayne.
Requirements
============
PLANT should work with any version of Windows that uses BMPs, SCRs, or
WAVs.
PKZIP and PKUNZIP from PKWARE, Inc are also required. PLANT has been
tested only with version 2.04g, but should work with other versions with-
out problems. The entire PKZIP package can be found on many BBS's and In-
ternet file archive sites, or you can contact PKWARE directly:
PKWARE, Inc
9025 N. Deerwood Drive
Brown Deer, WI 53223
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PKZIP and PKUNZIP are
trademarks of PKWARE Inc.
Setup
=====
1. Place PLANT.EXE and PLANT.CFG together into any directory on your path.
If you wish to execute PLANT from Windows, create a new program item
for it. Change the properties to use PLANT.PIF as the command line and
PLANT.ICO as the icon. Also, you will probably wish to check the 'Run
Minimized' box to allow PLANT to run as an icon.
2. Manually compress (zip) your wallpaper, screen savers, and sound files
into separate archives. These archives can have any name you wish and
can be placed anywhere in your file system that you wish. Note that
PLANT supports individual sound archives for each of the different sys-
tem sounds. You could have an archive of WAVs just for BEEP sounds,
another for STOP sounds, one for EXIT sounds, and so on. However,
PLANT also allows any and all of the system sounds to share the same
archive. For example, in my system, I have one archive made up of
longer WAVs that I use just for the START sound. I have one other ar-
chive made up of shorter WAVs that I use for all the other system
sounds.
3. Edit PLANT.CFG to define the location of various things on your system,
and to set the planting options. I have provided a sample configura-
tion file with clear (I hope) documentation.
4. Execute PLANT once to produce the standard-named BMP, SCR, and/or WAV
files. During this initial execution, you will probably get several
`File Not Found' messages. Don't be alarmed, this is normal, but
should occur only during the first execution of PLANT (or after a con-
figuration change has been made). If you get these messages during
subsequent executions, you probably have something defined incorrectly
in PLANT.CFG.
5. From Windows Control Panel select these standard-named files as your
wallpaper, screen saver, and/or system sounds.
Usage
=====
Execute PLANT anytime you wish to swap BMPs, SCRs, and WAVs. You could
execute PLANT from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you want the swapping to oc-
cur at bootup. Or, you may wish to create a batch file to execute PLANT
each time you start windows. If you create a batch file called WIN.BAT,
then you may need to rename your \WINDOWS\WIN.COM file to something like
\WINDOWS\WINSTART.COM to allow the batch file to execute instead of the
com file.
Also, if you wish to suppress all those PKZip messages from appearing on
the screen, you can redirect PLANT's standard output to the NUL device.
For example, here is how a simple WIN.BAT might look:
@echo off
plant > nul
winstart
Another acceptable method for using PLANT is to create a program item for
it using PLANT.PIF and PLANT.ICO and place it in your STARTUP program
group.
Copyright Notice
================
PLANT is Copyright (c) 1993 by Terry Matula. No part of PLANT may be cop-
ied in part or in whole, except as provided in the License Agreement be-
low.
License Agreement
=================
PLANT is distributed as FREEWARE. This means that the copyright holder
reserves all rights except the following three which are granted to you at
no charge.
1. You may use PLANT in its unaltered form.
2. You may make as many unaltered copies of PLANT as you wish.
3. You may distribute unaltered copies of PLANT.
You are specifically prohibited from editing, modifying, or in any way
changing PLANT. (PLANT refers to both the executable, PLANT.EXE, and the
documentation, PLANT.DOC.) You are also specifically prohibited from
charging, or requesting donations, for any copies that you may distribute.
Exceptions are for BBS's and commercial on-line systems that charge a mem-
bership or time charge, and other distribution schemes that charge a fixed
fee for distribution media and/or shipping. As long as no specific
charges are made for this program, this is allowed.
By using, copying, or distributing PLANT, you are indicating your agree-
ment to the above terms. If you do not agree with the above terms, you
should delete PLANT immediately.
Registration
============
Because PLANT is FREEWARE, no registration is required. However, I would
appreciate hearing from you anyway. If you have any comments, ideas, sug-
gestions, or bug reports, then please contact me. I'm more than willing
to make any improvements or to add any features that you suggest, as long
as they are feasible. Even if you really have nothing to say, I would
still like to receive a little note from anyone who uses PLANT.
Terry Matula
21-G Aiken Village
Starkville, MS 39759
e-mail address: matula@ee.msstate.edu
WARRANTY and DISCLAIMER
=======================
Because the program is distributed free of charge, there is no warranty
for the program. The copyright holder provides the program "as is" with-
out warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not
limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fit